
LUNENBURG — At 5:46 a.m. on Wednesday, July 13, Officers Matthew Pingitore and Kamerin Munroe of the Lunenburg Police Department were dispatched to Pleasant Street following a report of an unwanted male guest sleeping in a hammock in a resident’s front yard.
According to Officer Pingitore, when he arrived on scene, he found a man with dried blood on his face fast asleep in a hammock.
The man was later identified as Nicholas Barrieault, a 36-year-old Fitchburg resident who’s on disability, according to the arrest report for the incident.
“I approached Mr. Barrieault and yelled toward him to wake up,” wrote Officer Pingitore in his Narrative for the incident. “When the male party woke up, he seemed confused. I also observed a cut on his face and elbow that had dried blood on it.”

According to Officer Pingitore, Barrieault said the hammock was at his aunt’s residence and he just planned on staying for the night.
Officer Munroe spoke with the caller, who confirmed that Barrieault was her nephew, adding that she didn’t want him to stay on her property.
In addition, when dispatch looked up Barrieault, they found three active warrants out for his arrest (two straight warrants and one default warrant). Straight warrants are for criminal charges and default warrants, in the Commonwealth, automatically suspends an individual’s driver’s license.
Barrieault was then arrested and transported to the Lunenburg Police Department for booking.
“When I arrived back to the station, Mr. Barrieault was placed in the holding cell. He was asked to remove his shoes and socks,” wrote Officer Pingitore in his Narrative. “When Mr. Barrieault removed his left sock and shook it out, a plastic bag containing a white powdery substance fell out. I then picked up the plastic bag and asked Mr. Barrieault if he knew what the plastic bag contained and he denied knowing what it was.”
According to Officer Pingitore, Sergeant Joshua Tocci tested the substance using a “Narco Pouch” and determined that it was cocaine; 0.016 grams, to be exact.
Barrieault was then charged with Possession of a Class B Drug.
Barrieault was arraigned in Fitchburg District Court on July 13. He’s scheduled to appear in court again on August 25 for a pretrial hearing.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from July, that’s because I had to file a FOIA request to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.